Forest of the Revenant: Cedar Forest

"Tick...... Tick ......"

Blood dripped down the sleeves of his coat, staining the weeds on the ground red.

Holding on to his slashed shoulder, Icarus ran through a field of dead grass and fled among the tall fir trees.

He held the gun in his right hand, and there was a long knife wound on his arm that spread from his shoulder to his forearm, and he had been cut open by a sharp weapon in the forehead muscles of his forearm, revealing deep muscle fibers and a grim scratch bone, and even a piece of the elbow joint was exposed.

Originally, ten minutes ago, he fought with the black blade and rolled down the hill, and in that fierce battle, neither side had the upper hand, and almost both sides were defeated.

Actually, Icarus wasn't really desperate to save Colin - at least not like Blackblade was trying to save Ogar.

Saving Colin was just an excuse for him, on the one hand, in order to let the Black Blade think that he could use Colin's life as a bargaining chip, so as to let down his guard and let him find an opportunity; On the other hand, Colin does have a talent for computers, and this time he uses the food chain order to sell him a favor, maybe next time he will be able to use his computer skills to do things for himself.

It's important to know that not all players have very disconnected relationships.

Sometimes a short-term cooperation can lead to a win-win situation.

It's just that Icarus underestimated the strength of the Black Blade a little.

He didn't expect the black blade to be so strong, although it was Icarus's subordinate player in the food chain, but he directly killed him, although the black blade couldn't attack him, but every defense suppressed Icarus's movements just right, the two of them rolled down the hill in the struggle, and then they fell into another dense cedar forest under the hillside, and some of the wounds on his body came from rolling down the hillside.

Just when Icarus was about to deal with the black blade in the cedar forest, a prompt from the system suddenly came from the headset - the rules of the game have changed.

The positions of all the attackers and the attacked were reversed, and the order of the food chain was reversed at once, and the order of the food chain between him and the black blade was also reversed at once.

Icarus, who was originally in the upper hand, suddenly became a lower-level player in the food chain who could only defend and not attack, and he was also a low-level player of the terrifying black blade, so he had no choice but to flee.

Blackblade's mastery of hand-to-hand combat, coupled with his use of daggers, made him almost unbeatable except Caesar.

After barely resisting a few moves, Icarus was wise enough to know that if he didn't run away, he would die at the hands of the Black Blade.

So he finally took advantage of the gap in defense to resist the attack of the black blade and fled deeper into the cedar forest, but the other party didn't seem to intend to let him go just like that.

The reason is the same as the reason he hunted down the Black Blade in the first place.

They are both high-ranking players on the blood list, and they can get a lot of points for killing high-ranking players, but in the face of such a "high bounty" temptation, how many people can refuse?

So, it was originally Icarus chasing the Black Blade, but now it has become the Black Blade chasing Icarus.

And the black blade is better at field assault warfare, facing different terrains, as a former commando member, he is more able to quickly judge the difference in terrain, so as to take the most effective offensive strategy, one move to defeat the enemy!

Icarus, it's dangerous.

"Tick...... Tick ......"

Blood continued to drip down his elbow, his right arm was so badly wounded that he could no longer defend or block, and now he was barely carrying a pistol, the black-bladed dagger wounded his nerves, his wrists trembling, and the sharp pain came with every trembling.

Icarus walked around a straight and thick fir tree, and stopped behind the cedar, he leaned against the cedar and gasped for breath, his face and lips pale from blood loss, the cold air poured into his airways, his lungs seemed to explode, he breathed with each breath, and his throat ached from inhaling the air that filled with the smell of rotting corpses.

"Whew...... Call...... Whew......"

His chest heaved violently from his rapid running.

The rapid ventilation of his lungs was no longer enough to meet the amount of oxygen his body needed, and he staggered over a few trees, the cold wind pouring into his throat, which ached as he breathed.

His physical strength.

Reached the limit.

Icarus lowered his head, took the pistol from his right, which was almost uncontrollable, and checked the magazine, revealing that there were three bullets left.

But these life-saving bullets are useless in the face of the black blade, at most they can only hit the trees next to him, hindering his pursuit, and besides, they can't even protect themselves.

He suddenly regretted it very much, at that time, when he saw the confrontation between Black Blade, Colin, and Ojiaer, he shouldn't have talked nonsense, he should have solved Black Blade quickly, so that he would not have the poor break that Black Blade is chasing now. But who would have thought that the [Minghe System] would actually play tricks on players like this, reversing the order of the food chain in an instant? All of a sudden, the pursuer and the pursued instantly swapped positions, and his offensive position that had the upper hand was gone, and he was panicked like a lost dog.

"Click."

Behind him, the sound of a pistol being loaded sounded, and Icarus's heart tightened, and he secretly said that something was wrong.

He turned sideways and saw Blackblade standing next to a spruce tree, holding a pistol and looking at him coldly.

"Icarus, you can't escape." His hoarse voice came through the gas mask, with a bit of distortion, sounding like the voice of the Lord of Hell when the end came.

Icarus took a step back, and the black blade struck the fir next to him, sending flying sawdust across his cheek and scratching the left side of his face.

Warm blood ran down his cheeks and dripped to the ground.

"Hmph, the winner is the king, the loser is the coward, and if you die at your hands, I have nothing to say." Icarus muttered.

Blackblade took a few steps forward, his body covered in scars. He had two stab wounds in the chest, and he was shot in the left shoulder, and the blood stained his shirt red, so his movements were a little sluggish, but the wound on his left shoulder did not affect his right hand with the gun, on the contrary, these wounds only provoked his murderous intent, and he was bound to get it back on Icarus.

His luck was good, if it weren't for the system announcing the reversal of the order of the food chain before Icarus killed him, then he would have been killed by Icarus.

But I didn't expect the situation to change so dramatically.

He gains the status of a player at the top of the food chain and gains the right to kill Icarus.

Now, he's the one in control of the two's cautious battle.

He enjoyed the feeling of chasing his prey.

It's as if I've experienced something like this before, on the battlefield of life and death, chasing the target, killing the target, like an agile hound, sniffing the panicked breath of the prey, tracking to the ends of the earth.

Icarus fired a shot at the root of the tree at the foot of the black blade, the black blade flashed to the side, Icarus turned and ran, the black blade raised his gun and hit the fir next to Icarus, the gunshot hurt his eardrums, he hurriedly hid behind the cedar, using the fir as a cover, and fired a shot at the branch next to the black blade, this shot broke the rotten branch, the branch fell down, the black blade dodged sideways, and the branch smashed into the original position of the black blade.

Icarus is smart.

He knew that he couldn't directly harm the Black Blade, so it wasn't against the rules of the game to hinder or harm him with the help of environmental factors.

Because of this, even a hunter as clever as Black Blade couldn't kill him instantly.

At this moment, a prompt sound came from the headsets of the two -

【Attention to all players, attention to all players】

【Player Death】

[Changes in the food chain]

[The new food chain order is: Beauty - Mars - Colin - Blackblade - Icarus - Arthur - Caesar - J - Beauty]

The new order of the food chain was announced, but this time, Icarus did not hear the Duke's code name.

(The canary is dead?!) ）

There was a wave in his eyes.

Blackblade seized the opportunity, and he fired two shots in succession, the first of which hit the cedar that Icarus was covering with, and Icarus instinctively took a step back, which happened to expose him more to Blackblade's range. The black blade immediately disconnected the second shot, which swollen Icarus's left hand holding the gun, and the wrist was in the middle range, Icarus cried out in pain, and the gun in his hand was thrown out with inertia, and was thrown into the grass a few meters away.

Icarus's wrist was pierced by a bullet, and blood gushed from the bullet hole.

He crouched on the ground, gritting his teeth and shaking his shoulders.

But he didn't have time to hesitate, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that the black blade had already walked in front of him, he looked at himself condescendingly, the sunlight in the forest brushed his shoulders and fell on Icarus, the air was filled with a strong smell of blood, the black blade was like a god of death coming from that smell of blood, and now, it was time for him to take his life.

Blackblade silently raised his hand, his gun aimed at Icarus.

Icarus smiled faintly: "Hmph, canary, I'm here to accompany you." ”

Just as he closed his eyes and prepared to die, a gunshot rang out a few meters away.

"Bang-"

When Icarus opened his eyes, he saw that Black Blade had been shot in the chest and fell in front of him, and the gun in his hand had also fallen beside Icarus.

(What's going on?!) ）

Icarus turned his head and saw Colin standing in the grass, holding the gun he had just thrown out, the muzzle of which was pointed at the black blade that had fallen to the ground.

It was Colin who shot and hit the black blade!

"Glasses?"

Icarus stood up, and Colin stepped forward a little timidly, the muzzle of the gun still aimed at the black blade, as if he was afraid that the black blade would jump up at any moment and kill himself.

"I—Am I doing the right thing?" Colin looked at Icarus without confidence.

In front of him, the black blade fell to the ground clutching his chest, but he was not dead, Colin's bullet hit him in the chest, shattered his sternum, pierced his mediastinum, and passed through his heart, although it pierced the superior and inferior vena cava next to the heart, but it did not kill immediately. Dark red venous blood poured out of his chest, into his esophagus and trachea, and he coughed, vomited a few mouthfuls of blood from under his gas mask, and still stared at Colin as if he regretted how he hadn't solved the troublesome eyed imp with a knife first.

Icarus leaned down and picked up the pistol on the ground with his badly wounded right hand, his right hand trembling from nerve damage, and he handed the gun to Colin.

"Before shooting, aim at the life gate of the prey, in the case of humans, that is, the left chest and head." Icarus said, pointing his finger to the position of the midline of his left clavicle and the position of his temple and frontal bone, like a mentor, teaching his juniors how to hunt.

Colin looked at the gun in his hand, and then at the gun in Icarus's hand, hesitated.

Icarus added: "The gun in your hand, it's out of bullets, use this." ”

Icarus then threw away the pistol with an empty magazine and took the heavy gun from Icarus.

"Icarus, once he kills me, you'll be the next player in his food chain." Blackblade reminded in a calm voice, "He's going to kill you." ”

The implication of the Black Blade is that in order not to get into trouble, Icarus should protect him.

After all, with a player in the middle, Icarus and Colin are not considered to be on the food chain, and they did not have the relationship between killing and being killed before.

It's a black blade.

In the last moment, he is still able to sort out his head and look for any chance that he can survive.

Icarus naturally knew what the black blade meant, and he looked at Colin: "Glasses boy, tell me, will you kill me?" ”

Icarus's deep voice was calm and calm, as if he was saying something related to his own senses.

Colin looked at Icarus's sharp golden eyes and shook his head vigorously.

"Alright, let's grab it, and don't hit the black blade's forehead with his gas mask." Icarus took a step back.

Blackblade narrowed his eyes at Icarus, "That's how you believe in this glasses imp?!" ”

"I don't believe him, I just weighed the pros and cons, Black Blade, if I let you go, you will definitely continue to chase me, compared to being chased by the glasses boy and being chased by you, the probability of my survival is much smaller."

As cunning as he is, he has already calculated the results of various choices in his heart.

At any time, he is not at the mercy of others, and he has his own set of yardsticks in mind.

Colin looked at Icarus, then at Blackblade, he took a few steps forward, his hands holding the gun trembled a little, but he still steadied himself, took a deep breath, and aimed the muzzle of the gun at Blackblade's head.

"Don't be nervous, glasses boy, the first time you do it, it's inevitable that you'll be a little scared." Icarus looked at Colin coldly.

The black blade was like the prey he had caught, and he was training his own students.

Truly.

He said in the [Upper Circle Chase and Kill Battle] that in the game of [Minghe System], gunfights are commonplace, and if you don't use guns, you can't survive at all.

And now, it's time for him to teach Colin how to use a gun.

Colin looked at the hateful look in the Black Blade's eyes, gritted his teeth, and pulled the trigger with all his strength.

"Bang-"

The bullet pierced the skull of the black blade, killing him instantly.

The body of the Black Blade fell to the ground, not moving.

The player's headset also heard the system's prompt sound-

【Attention to all players, attention to all players】

【Player Death】

[Changes in the food chain]

[The new food chain order is: Beauty - Mars - Colin - Icarus - Arthur - Caesar - J - Beauty]

Food chain.

Again shortened.

"Good job, but the next time you shoot, don't close your eyes." Icarus said coldly, "What if the prey escapes while you close your eyes." ”

"Yes......"

Colin lowered his head and nodded, looking at the gun in his hand, and then at the corpse of the black blade a few steps away, he didn't react for a while, he had already completed the first kill in the [Minghe System].

He, really killed.

Really became a veritable criminal.

Maybe that's what he is.

He wasn't a good guy in the first place.

"......" Colin's expression was a little depressed, as if he had lost something and could never get it back.

It was Icarus, who looked at him with the expression of a passer-by: "Take it easy, you will get used to it after firing a few more shots." ”

Colin looked at Icarus: "Yes......"

For a while, there were only two of them left in the fir forest.

An eerie silence fermented between the two.

“…… Honest with me, do you plan to kill me? After the food chain is shortened and I become your next player. ”

Colin thought for a moment and looked up at him, "Honestly...... Yes, there is. ”

"Yes." Icarus wasn't surprised.

“…… You seem to have guessed it a long time ago? ”

"From the first time I saw you and you were going to sneak up on me in a wheelchair with a needle, I knew that you kid was a sinister person, so it's not surprising."

Colin blushed a little ashamedly: "...... I'm sorry, Icarus, my top player is Mars, he's too strong, I don't know when he'll find me, if I don't earn more points while I'm still alive, I'm afraid that my ranking on the [Blood List] won't be as good as others. This is probably one of the few times I can earn points. ”

Colin paused, looking up at Icarus.

"If there was a second choice, I wouldn't choose to deal with you, after all, you just saved me from the Black Blade, and I still owe you a favor."

"Your judgment is correct, and there is no need to apologize."

"But......" Colin sighed, he thought for a moment and looked at Icarus, "In return, I'll let you go once, Icarus, you go first, but if I let me find you next time, I won't open the net again." ”

It's strange to say that this sentence came out of Colin's mouth.

Both the person who said it and the person who listened to it felt weird.

He has always played the role of the chased, and he is actually qualified to let others go, this is not an ordinary player, but Icarus, one of the three giants of the upper circle.

Anyway, when Colin said this, he did feel a bit arrogant.

Icarus was silent for a few seconds, then turned to leave.

He walked steadily, calmly, and didn't seem to be worried about Colin sneaking up on him after he turned around.

That's what makes a really strong player.

Both physically and spiritually.

At no time will we abandon our calmness and calmly deal with all changes.

He was the one who crawled out of the pile of dead people, and the battle of life and death seemed to him to be a normal thing.

Colin watched Icarus fade away and turned his head to look at the body of the Black Blade that had cooled.

He was once invincible, and he threatened him with a dagger, but now he is dead at his own hands.

True irony.

This game is [single-phase system], if you meet him again in the next game, what will the picture look like? Will he hunt himself for revenge? If the next game is [Death], then won't he lose more than he gains?

The more Colin thought about it, the more chilled he became, so he shook his head and shook off the messy thoughts in his head.

He only knew that the decision he had made at this moment was the right one.

As for what happens after that, we can only take one step at a time.

Colin thought so and turned away from the scene of the shooting.

But he didn't expect that the speculation that flashed in his mind turned out to be a prophecy, and the next game turned out to be a [death] game.

Of course, that's all for later.